//------------------------------// // PANIC MODE! // Story: X-COM: Operation Phoenix // by Architect Ironturtle //------------------------------// I woke to the sound of galloping hooves. As I groaned and sat up, I saw Starlight Glimmer (how did I know her last name?) running in circles around the small cave, hysterical panic flowing off of her in waves. It took everything I had to not start panicking with her, especially after she noticed I was up, and ran over to start shaking me. "WHAT WAS THAT?" she screamed, rattling me around like the soda you're about to give to your nemesis. "You were in my head, and I was in your head, and your favorite chocolate is salty, and you have a scar behind your ear from when you rode two scooters at once, and I know your name is William, but your dad calls you Willy, no matter how much you ask him to stop, or asked him, rather, since he's dead, and that's so sad, and you're from a place where I'm in a tv show, and only humans live there, and they're all smart, and I don't, no can't know any of this! Or shouldn't know any of-WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?" So, apparently hooves can grip. Good to know. I tried to come up with a response, but she was shaking me so hard I couldn't focus well enough to think of something to say. So, I went on instinct, and reached out Psionically to rub a spot at the base of her horn, one that I somehow knew her mother used to calm her down whenever she got like this. She let go instantly, clutching at her head in a way that signaled that it was working. I kept it up for a few seconds, then stopped, letting her catch her breath. "How did you know how to do that?" she asked, panting slightly. Now that I could actually concentrate, I noticed she wasn't actually speaking English, but rather, her whinnies now sounded like it in my head. Weird, but ignorable as long as I wasn't paying too much attention, which I proceeded to do immediately. "I'm, not, sure," I said slowly, trying to stand and finding my balance wasn't quite up to the challenge yet. Apparently, speaking at all was the wrong thing to do, because her ears went flat against her head (sign of fear and anger?), and she skittered back a few steps, almost stumbling over one of the Sectoid corpses along the way. "No, I must be hearing things, human sounds don't make words, they never make words." She repeated this to herself several times, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks (seriously, how does that work?), and each time it sounded more like a denial, until she broke down completely and curled up in a corner, shaking all over. I could sense her emotions were something of a cross between a roller coaster and a hurricane, and that she'd probably pass out unless I did something. I tried to stand again, and when that didn't work, crawled over to her side and started rubbing her shoulders. She always got stiff shoulders when she was upset, and her dad did this to help calm her down. She flinched away at first, but I was patient, and my fingers were dexterous, and eventually she relaxed into my grip, her shudders subsiding as I kneaded her muscles. "I'm not entirely sure what happened," I began, but had to stop to focus on the rubbing when she tensed up at my words. After she'd calmed down a bit, I continued, "I was trying to bridge the language gap by tapping into our verbal processors, but my inexperience meant I went a lot deeper than I wanted tp. We can understand each other now, sure, but I ended up with a ton of extra information. I know a lot of, things, maybe everything. Maybe your entire life story," she froze, "but I can't get it at right now." she relaxed. " Not all of it at least. I'm pretty sure you know mine too, although I'm not sure how much you can see." She quivered, then answered, "You were born 19 years ago, on April 1st, 1995. You have, no, had a stable family relationship growing up. Your Mom and Dad were happily married for 25 years, and had four children. You're the oldest, and had two sisters and a brother, ages 16, 12, and 14, respectively. You lived in a suburban house on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia, and didn't move at all until you left home upon coming of age. Two months ago, your family went on a road trip to celebrate your parents 25th anniversary. You couldn't make it because of work, and you felt guilty about that, but not very. You don't know what happened for certain, but it involved three failed break sets among three different semi-trucks, and the resulting pileup smashed the family van to a pulp. There-," her voice caught, "There wasn't even enough left to bury." That did it. Starlight started crying, and I did too. I gave up on rubbing her shoulders and just hugged her, this tiny pony I barely knew, and yet also knew better than anyone else in existence, as our tears soaked the parched, sandy ground. I don't know long we sat there, just giving voice to our sorrows, but we probably would have stayed put quite a while longer if another Sectoid hadn't wandered out of the passage. It spun around towards us and started to back into cover as I reached for my gun, which lay back where I'd fallen the first time, but Starlight wasn't having it. "I told you, Mr Sectoid," She purred, low and soft and oh so dangerous, "I don't like being interrupted. Now I have to make you go away." She grunted, and sent the Sectoid flying down the tunnel with her magic (how did I know it was called that?). I heard a squeal followed by the loud splatter of something meaty hitting something hard, then nothing. I gulped, staring down at her, the pile of smashed targets jumping to the front of my mind. She giggled, quite a change from her mood a few seconds ago, and said, "Don't worry, Willy, I'm not going to blow you up. Not unless you make me mad." I nodded hastily, carefully ignoring the annoying pet name and wondering just how she'd known what I was thinking. She froze, her expression morphing to one of horror. After a moment, I felt a nudge inside my head, and Starlight's voice, but not her mouth, said, "Can you hear me?" "Eyep," I answered. For a while, nothing happened, then Starlight let out a string of swear words while her apparent mental link to me ran away screaming. She didn't like this development, one, little, bit, and wanted me out. Out. OUT! She tried to sever the connection, but instead we both fell over clutching our heads in an attempt to sooth the pain. "Well, that didn't work," I complained, pushing myself back up to a sitting position. "Guess we're stuck with each other." "Oh, joy," she replied, climbing to her hooves, "I've got a talking ape from another dimension in my head. One where..." She trailed off, eyes shrinking and ears twitching. "Care to explain why My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic matches my world so well?" I groaned in response, but before I could actually answer, she said, "Nevermind, I already know. I guess it makes sense that the subjects of a tv show exist somewhere out in the multiverse, but it doesn't explain the inconsistencies. I'd ask where all the humans are, but you don't have an explanation either. That's annoying." I stared at her in surprise. "You're taking this remarkably well," I said slowly. "I think I've run out of panic for today," She answered testily, brushing a bit of sand from her hoof. "I just can't freak out anymore. If you want more hysterics, come back tomorrow." I chuckled despite myself. "Although I have to wonder why this Merchant is doing this. What's the point again?" "What are you asking me for? You know I don't know." "Sorry," she said, snorting, "force of habit." "Right. So, what are you doing..." It was my turn to trail off in horror. "You're planning on creating a cult based around taking ponies's talents away as a way to allow you to steal Twilight's without anyone being the wiser? That's sick! Clever, but still sick. You know a cutie mark (my masculinity died a little just saying the word) is more than a flank tattoo, it's an external manifestation of a pony's personality! Taking it away is like stealing my love of video games!" I felt a stab of guilt over our link before she buried it under a mound of rage. She opened her mouth to start on an angry tirade, but I cut her off, saying, "I already know why you're doing this, and frankly, it's a pretty good reason. However, stealing Twilight's cutie mark won't get you out from under her shadow. You'll still be in it, only even deeper because you've given up what makes you you and replaced it with what makes Twilight Twilight. If you really want to stand alone, you'll have to do something that she hasn't. Something new." I glanced at her side, smirking evilly, "And I think I know where you can start." Starlight contorted herself to look and her flank, and gaped in surprise. Her cutie mark had changed, ever so slightly. The entire image was now outlined in purple energy, the same energy that appeared whenever I used my Psi gifts. "Tell me, what do you think will happen when you mix magic with Psi energy?" Her mind raced, flashing through dozens of equations and symbols I didn't recognize, before finally settling on a number, one that knocked her hind hooves out from under her as she sat hard on the floor, mouth open, eyes shining. Her elation flowed over me like the warm surf on a Florida beach, and I knew I'd pulled her off the path of self destruction, even if only by a step. The next thing I knew, I was upside down, held up by one foot encased in her magic. However, it was also being lifted by her Psi, as indicated by her glowing purple eyes (which I found less creepy the longer I spent around them) and the dark purple streaks circling her teal magic aura. I gave her my best deadpan stare, or at least as close to one as I could get from my reversed vantage point. "Very funny, Stars, now put me down." She did so, giggling all the while. I groped around on the ground for my glasses, and wiped the sand off them before sticking them back on my face. We sat there for a bit, having run out of things to say. Finally, she asked, "So, now what?" "I don't know about you," I said, "But I've got two things that need doing. First of all, I need to figure out what is up with the humans around here. Basically, why they're stupid, and whether that's a problem that should be fixed, or if it's natural and should be left alone. Second, I need to prepare for the alien invasion that's to come." I sent her a mental profile of all the enemies X-COM would face, and she blanched, ears folding back against her head. I understood why completely: Sectoids were the smallest and weakest enemies we would face, and they alone had killed Zoe and almost gotten her too. "The thing is, I can't do that by myself. Sure, I've got the best gear available and some fancy mental powers, but I'm only one soldier. X-COM is a team project, and I'm going to need researchers, engineers, pilots, squad-mates, funding, supplies, and everything else that goes into fighting a guerrilla war against a vastly superior enemy. If you want, you can come with me. I won't be able to guarantee your safety, but you'll be able to study your new Psi powers to your hearts content." I didn't say that I didn't want to go into this alone, and that the idea of us parting ways gave me a bizarre sense of melancholy. I didn't have too. She walked up to me and bumped me in the chest with her muzzle, smiling softly (it was strange how many expressions we shared). "Stop getting all serious on me, Willy. You're in my head, and I'm in yours, and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. We might as well get to know each other properly if we're stuck doing it improperly regardless." I smiled and rubbed her ears, which made her legs wobble and eyes close and a waterfall of ecstasy slap me in the face. Note to self, scratching pony ears is a really good idea. "Thanks Stars," I said grinning, "Now, how do I put this. I, Commander William Bishop, hereby recruit Starlight Glimmer to the Equestria branch of X-COM." Starlight looked at me confusion. "Just say yes," I told her over the link, "I want to see what happens." She cocked her head at me like I'd just grown feathers, but said, "Um, Ok. I accept?" A touch screen popped up in front of her, one which read: Squaddie Starlight Glimmer has just earned a promotion. New ability, run and gun. Missions: 1 Kills: 2 HP: 6 Defense: 0 Will: 50 Aim: 70 Standby to receive weapon. "Wait, what?" CLONK. "Ow! Where'd this thing come from?" I grinned, dismissing the soldier profile with a thought before I picked up the alloy cannon and offered it to her with a bow. She stared down at it, then then took it from me with her magic and checked the sights. "So," she said, "That's what he meant when he said the others would find you as you needed them." I nodded, still grinning. "Ms. Glimmer," I said cordially, "Would you care to show me to the exit? We can't really get anything done down here." She nodded absently and starting walking, still absorbed in examining her new toy. I retrieved my own gun and followed her, whistling softly as I kept an eye out for more aliens. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad after all.